


Death and Other Unpleasantries

by orphan_account



Category: The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb), The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Betrayal, Canon Compliant, F/M, Ghosts, M/M, Rating May Change, Rebuilding a friendship, Slow Build, Temporarily Unrequited Love, To a point
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-15
Updated: 2014-05-15
Packaged: 2018-01-24 21:24:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1617566
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's hard when someone you're close to dies, difficulty set to high when their ghost starts hanging around you. But when they are actually out to ruin your life, it should be called Challenge Mode, no extra lives, you lose and you're out. </p><p>Also known as the one where Harry dies instead of becoming the Green Goblin and his ghost sticks around for a bit. Canon compliant until the point when Harry injected the venom.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Death and Other Unpleasantries

Pain. Flashing lights exploding in his eyes. Alarms overwhelming him. He twitched and shuddered. Pain; blossoming in his eyelids and forming into an image of his father, laughing at him. The image shifted, showing Spider-man, drawing a scream from his throat. Again the image shifted. Peter Parker. Pain. Peter’s face. Pain. The hurt in Peter’s eyes. Pain. _Goodbye, Harry_ , the image whispered. Pain. Searing through him into his every limb. Pain filling his mouth. His nerves were dancing through his body, sharp scratches tearing through him as everything within him betrayed him. His screams forced their way out of him as he choked on his saliva. His mouth tasted of blood, his tongue bitten. Pain. Then everything went dark, every nerve going dead like a candle being burned out. Black.

-          -     -

Five days after his final battle with Electro, Peter Parker found himself rushing through the city with a full list of errands to run. Gwen was in London, probably attending class and making a place for herself, and in three months he would be joining her. He was hoping to get to England sooner, but after talking to his aunt about moving to another country, she decided that it was time to move as well.

_“Are you sure Aunt May? You’ve lived here forever.” Peter had said, sitting across the table from his aunt, holding a glass of lemonade in one hand. A cool breeze filtered in through the window, birds chirping and cars driving past, blasting music. It was as though the city hadn’t been nearly destroyed just a day before._

_“Yes, this place just wouldn’t be the same alone. I’m getting old and a big empty house is the last thing I need,” she smiled but her eyes filled with tears. Peter reached across the table and took her hand._

_“Thank you for everything, Aunt May. And don’t think you’ll be stuck here moving everything on your own. I won’t leave until you’re all settled someplace else, yeah? Something with a nice view, right?” he smiled and Aunt May laughed._

And now he was checking out yet another apartment building in his quest of finding the perfect place for his aunt. It was the least he could do, really, along with 7 other errands on his list. They were mostly things like “get cardboard boxes” and “talk to moving companies”, necessary for a smooth move. Aunt May was already discussing selling the house with a real estate agent.

In a way, it was sad. Selling the house that he had grown up in and leaving New York and Aunt May behind. But he was also sure of his choice. He loved Gwen Stacy so much that it hurt sometimes, his heart seeming to swell to make space for all of the ways that he loved her. Her hair and her eyes and her laugh. She was brilliant and he was just as sure at that moment as he had been when he had decided it. She was his path, where she went he would follow.

Suddenly, something caught his eyes. He hadn’t been paying attention much to his surroundings, just rushing through the busy streets, relying on his instincts to warn him if something was up. He looked up and saw someone.

Harry Osborn, on the cover of every newspaper in the vicinity, the words “Fall of an Empire” plastered over his impassive face. He snatched a copy from a free newspaper dispenser.

His eyes poured over the newspaper, horror numbing his body as the blood drained from his face. His ears felt hot, throbbing against his head, a contrast to his numb fingertips. He felt too hot and too cold, both numb and hyperaware of his body and surroundings.

Dead. Dead dead dead dead dead. The eyes in the newspaper bore into him. Guilt whipped through him, red hot, bubbling in his chest like a sickening concoction of all of his mistakes. It stung his eyes and constricted his throat.

Horror. Guilt. Sorrow. Pain.

His best friend, gone. His best friend on the newspapers. Thousands of copies of his face and each pair of eyes glared out at him. Seeking him out and drawing from him every feeling of pain that he must have felt leading up to his last moments.

The newspaper fluttered to the ground, landing in a heap of cheap paper. Face burning with held back tears he turned and ran. His heart pounding as his throat seemed to press together, his breathing coming out forced and labored. He was drenched, exhausted, drained and he hadn’t even read the entire damn article. He turned towards an emptier street and ran away.

He didn’t want to face seeing his aunt so he climbed into his room through the window. His mind was screaming at him, obscenities and platitudes. He collapsed onto his bed, his mind pleading with anyone that might be listening to make the newspapers be wrong.

Sometime between praying and crying and screaming at the world from inside his head, he fell asleep.

He woke up to 7 missed calls and a shadow standing over his bed.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is much shorter than any of the others will be, I just wanted to get the story set up and out of the way. 
> 
> Note that the battle with Electro went exactly the same as in the movie, except Gwen didn't die because Green Goblin never showed up (because he never existed).
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the chapter!


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